


Visiting time

by keepworking



Category: The Good Wife (TV)
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-12
Updated: 2014-12-12
Packaged: 2018-03-01 05:28:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 745
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2761361
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/keepworking/pseuds/keepworking
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Visits Cary receives in prison. Angsty, future drabble.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Visiting time

He has 723 days left of his sentence when Alicia visits. She smiles, blurts out some platitudes about how well he looks, eyes observing every inch of him in the way only a lawyer can. Cary suddenly becomes acutely aware of the bags under his eyes, the stubble harsh around his mouth, how the garish orange clothing washes out his skin.  
It’s awkward, clumsy even. Like a first date except without the uncertainty; they both know she will be back, whether he asks or not.  
Unspoken rules hang heavy in the air, the effort of not mentioning the firm, Bishop, Kalinda, his parents  
How his life fell apart  
drains the conversation and renders them silent  
It’s over in what seems like a flash and, not for the first time, he wonders if this is what it was like with Peter. Was Peter sullen? Chatty? Did he offer apologies, or was there nothing left to say?

He hates himself for pulling her back into a life she should have left years ago.

Kalinda is sitting on the other side of the booth. She is a chameleon, blending into the gray surroundings like she has been there forever, like nothing has changed.  
Maybe for her, it hasn’t.  
Visiting days are Mondays, and today, he think, is a Thursday. Or is it a Friday?  
He can’t be sure.  
Either way, she’s there and he wonders how but then he remembers that this is Kalinda.  
There is no awkward conversation this time. Just a thick silence that muffles his thoughts.  
“Are you still fucking her?”  
“Cary. Don’t be like this. You’re in here…and she’s not. That’s all.”

He restrains himself to a simple:  
“She put me here.”  
A prison guard taps his shoulder   
“Are we done here Agos?”

When she answers yes, they both know there will be no second date.

Diane is angry. Not the type of angry he fell victim to that fateful day Florrick & Agos stole ChumHum, nor the quiet disappointment she reserves for lying clients.  
No, this is cold fury, except unlike before he can’t bring himself to care. Not caring is easier. It requires less effort, less thought.  
“Tell me, are you intent on self destruction? Is this…is this some ploy to push people away? Because it won’t work. Cary. You think clients haven’t tried this before?”  
That’s all he is now. A client. A criminal client. God, how it all came crashing down.  
Judging by the look on her face, he guesses a hollow laugh wouldn’t quite cut it in court.  
She erupts  
“Seriously, Cary seriously! You attacked a man…Bishop’s man. The deal was reliant on good behaviour…”  
the rest of her sentence blurs into one. Days in solitary have left him acutely aware of his surroundings. That paint peeling off the walls? Pretty sure it’s to cover up the mould.   
“not to mention you’re lucky he didn’t have a shiv”  
The prison speaker needs fixing; the sound is too tinned, too abrasive.  
It hurts his ears.  
Diane thumps the table.  
Cary sits, motionless. It unnerves her and he can almost feel the exasperation slowly merge with worry, mixed with anger and confusion.  
The perfect storm.

John Montgomery is quite possibly the most beige lawyer Cary has ever met. He speaks s l o w l y like every word could lead to a death sentence, wears suits that are more Target than Calvin Klein. He is the type of guy Cary used to despise going up against, not because he wouldn’t win but because it was just boring.  
It says enough that even Clarke, Clarke who thrives in what is simple, begged Cary not to hire him.

He would have listened, once. Of all the visits, Clarke’s hurt the most. Not because they’re particularly close- I mean, sure, he likes the guy, always has- but because it reminds him of what he has lost, what he gained and what he lost again. All he can see is the man he mentored, who looked up to him despite the years that separated them.  
How their roles have reversed. Clarke is on the up whilst he is in freefall.

John Montgomery could not be further from Florrick Agos, Lockhart Gardener, Florrick Lockhart or whatever the fuck it’s called these days. John Montgomery cannot remind him of the past, of the injustice that paralyses his brain and mobilizes his fists.  
John Montgomery thinks Cary is guilty.   
Cary isn’t sure what of anymore.

**Author's Note:**

> I can't get Cary out of my brain, hence the random angsty ramblings.  
> Pleeasssse comment/kudos- it would make my day!


End file.
